President Trump and his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, were told of sexual misconduct allegations by former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in 2013, according to a letter filed Friday in a New York federal court.
Attorney Peter Gleason, who is representing Mr. Cohen, submitted a letter to the court claiming two women approached him “some years ago” saying they had been “sexually victimized” by Mr. Schneiderman.
Mr. Gleason said the women were unrelated and approached him about year apart. Another woman contacted his office in 2013 with an almost identical story of victimization by Mr. Schneiderman, according to the letter.
Mr. Gleason advised the women not to report the allegations to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office because he feared their stories would be ignored, the letter said.
Instead, Mr. Gleason discussed the allegations with Stephen Dunleavy, a retired New York Post journalist. Mr. Dunleavy offered to discuss the matter with Mr. Trump, according to the court filing.
“Mr. Dunleavy did indeed discuss this very matter with Mr. Trump as evidenced by a phone call I received from attorney Michael Cohen,” Mr. Gleason wrote in the letter. “During my communications with Mr. Cohen, I shared with them certain details of Schneiderman’s vile attacks on these two women.”
It is not known if Mr. Cohen took any notes from his conversation about the sexual assault allegations.
In a Sept. 11, 2013, tweet, Mr. Trump cryptically hinted a sex scandal involving Mr. Schneiderman. The tweet referenced Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer, two New York politicians who had resigned over sexual misconduct claims.
“Weiner is gone, Spitzer is gone — next will be lightweight A.G. Eric Schneiderman. Is he a crook? Wait and see, worse than Spitzer or Weiner,” Mr. Trump tweeted.
The letter is the latest effort by Mr. Cohen’s legal team to seal evidence seized by the FBI last month in a raid on the attorney’s home, office and hotel. Mr. Gleason used the letter to request a protective order on all correspondence that Mr. Cohen may have had regarding the women to protect their identities as sexual assault victims.
Mr. Schneiderman resigned this week hours after New Yorker Magazine reported on four women who had accused him of sexual violence. He had been known as an advocate for women’s rights, including championing legislation to protect women from sexual abuse.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Schneiderman are longtime foes who’ve battled in the courtroom. In 2012, Mr. Schneiderman sought to sue Trump University in state court and later filed a federal complaint in 2013 alleging the school defrauded students.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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